PIT Homepage News

PIT Homepage News

With Francisco Cervelli unable to start Thursday night at PNC Park, the Pirates placed the veteran catcher on the disabled list due to left wrist inflammation and recalled infielder Max Moroff from Triple-A Indianapolis to reshape their bench.

Given their experience, John Jaso and Wade LeBlanc are looking forward to playing in front of the current generation of Little Leaguers when the Pirates play the Cardinals in MLB's first Little League Classic on Sunday in Williamsport, Pa. (7 p.m. ET, ESPN).

During his rise to stardom, baseball fans across the country came to know Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen as simply "Cutch." When McCutchen runs out to center field at Bowman Field on Aug. 20 for the MLB Little League Classic, he'll still be "Cutch" -- and his jersey will say the same.

It was as if the Pirates and Brewers decided to settle the small ball vs. long ball debate, once and for all. On Wednesday at Miller Park, the home runs ruled. The Pirates collected six run-scoring singles, five with two outs, to account for all of their runs, but the Brewers struck back with a barrage of homers for a 7-6 win, their fourth straight.

With a difficult stretch looming and their current place in the standings, the Pirates knew the importance of Wednesday's series finale against the Brewers. They needed a win to get within two games of the Brewers for second place in the National League Central with four-game series vs. the Cardinals and Dodgers looming.

The Cubs won the National League Central by 17 1/2 games last year, then they won the World Series. So pardon us if we weren't expecting a scintillating battle for supremacy in this particular division in 2017.

J.A. Happ turned his career around with the Pirates, putting together a dominant second half in 2015 that led to his current three-year deal with the Blue Jays. On Sunday afternoon, he turned the tables and shut down the Bucs for six innings. The Jays gave Happ all the run support he needed in the first inning and cruised to a 7-1 win at Rogers Centre.

MLBPipeline.com's Prospect Team of the Week honors the best performances from the previous seven days. Any Minor Leaguer currently on an organization Top 30 Prospects list on our Prospect Watch is eligible.

The last time the Giants sent George Kontos to get them out of a jam, Marcus Semien ripped his third pitch for a go-ahead grand slam. That sequence on July 31 was in the back of Kontos' mind when he took the moun at Rogers Centre in the seventh inning Friday night.

A day after the Pirates beat the Blue Jays by taking advantage of several mistakes, Toronto returned the favor. The Jays capitalized on the Bucs' misplays and made Chris Rowley a winner in his Major League debut, evening the series with a 7-2 victory on Saturday at Rogers Centre.

Pitching deeper into the season than he ever has before, Beau Burrows continues to get better. Burrows, Detroit's No. 4 prospect (No. 95 overall), was untouchable on Saturday as he tossed six hitless innings with eight strikeouts and two walks to pace Double-A Erie in an 11-0 rout of New Hampshire.

Marcus Stroman pitched eight innings without allowing an earned run, but the Pirates countered with a strong start from Jameson Taillon and capitalized on several Blue Jays mistakes in the third inning to capture a 4-2 win Friday night at Rogers Centre. For the first time since the morning of July 25, the Bucs are back at .500.

With the bases loaded and one out in the seventh inning Wednesday, Ivan Nova needed a double-play ball. He threw the Tigers' Nicholas Castellanos a sinker, but it missed its intended target. Castellanos drove it to the wall, emptying the bases and leaving Nova with an empty feeling as he continues searching for the command that brought him early-season success.